


Party (of three)

by usedupshiver



Category: Captain America - All Media Types, Iron Man - All Media Types, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Bucky Barnes Is a Good Bro, Christmas Party, Loki Does What He Wants, M/M, Oblivious Steve Rogers, Office Party, POV Steve Rogers, Pre-Serum Steve Rogers, Tony Stark Does What He Wants
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-10
Updated: 2015-12-10
Packaged: 2018-05-06 00:46:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,039
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5396459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/usedupshiver/pseuds/usedupshiver
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve thinks his personal invitation to the Stark Industries Christmas party is more of a thinly veiled death threat.</p><p>Bucky thinks he's an idiot.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Party (of three)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts).



> My Christmas gift came early this year. <3

The office restrooms didn't have the kind of flimsy stalls that showed your feet, but proper toilets with nicely tiled walls and sturdy, wooden doors. So Steve had toed off his dress shoes and curled up on the toilet seat with his legs folded under him like a tailor's, not caring that he got creases on his new slacks. The sleeves of his shirt were already rolled up to just under his bony elbows, his vest was a bit too big and the borrowed tie didn't match as well as he'd thought. Cell phone pressed to one ear, nervously biting the thumb nail of his free hand while he waited for the call to connect.

A click on the other end of the line, then Bucky's deep voice. ”Steve? What's up? I thought you were going to that company Christmas thing?”

”I was”, Steve muttered. ”I mean, I _am_ at the Christmas thing. But I can't stay. Are you home? Can I swing by?”

A pause. ”Why can't you stay?” Then a sigh. ”Don't tell me. Your boss is there. That Loki guy?”

”Yes!” Steve almost hissed into the phone now. ”He's here and he's beyond pissed that _I'm_ here and please, please can I come by?”

But Bucky just went on with his questions. ”Why would he be pissed? You work there, you were invited just like everyone else. He's no reason to be pissed.”

And sure, it sounded reasonable when you put it like that. But Bucky hadn't seen those piercing, green eyes measure Steve from head to toe, sharp enough that he'd felt pinned to the wall like a fly. Obviously finding him lacking. And that wasn't even the worst thing.

”Yeah. Well... Stark is here too.”

”Of course he's there, Steve. Christ. His name is on the fucking _building_.”

”I _know_ that! It's just... Loki must have told him something about me. Ages ago. Because he hates my guts too. He looks at me like I'm dirt dragged in stuck to someone's shoe and I've seen him outside my office, you know? Glaring like he suspects I'm stealing from the company or something.”

”Well”, Bucky drawled, amused. ”You _are_ stealing from the company, right?”

”That was _one_ time!”

A heavy pause.

”Okay three times but they are really nice pens and I just -” He cut himself off when he heard Bucky chuckling, and clenched his teeth in annoyance. ”Shut up, Barnes.”

Bucky was actually, honest to god, cackling now. ”You have issues, Stevie. Issues.” Then he calmed down with a steadying breath. ”No but seriously, man. Hang up the phone, get your little ass out of the bathroom I know you're holed up in because I can hear the echo, and go out and have a fucking drink already. Relax. Try this thing I hear the kids do these days - have some fun. It might actually not kill you.”

Steve sighed and rubbed his palm over his face. ”Maybe? Although I'm pretty sure Loki and Stark are planning to murder me and stuff my body in a paper recycling bin.”

”If they do, I'll make sure you're buried with the nice pens”, Bucky promised, completely unperturbed. The traitor. ”Now get out.”

”Fine”, Steve grumbled. ”Fine!”

And in the next moment there was just the bleep of a disconnected line in his ear, where Bucky had already hung up on him.

* * *

Steve did go find a drink, some overly sweet concoction served out of a giant bowl. Couldn't be very hygenic. But he forced himself to sip from his plastic glass anyway, feeling the alcohol form a warm, fuzzy ball in his gut.

He tried to slink away into a corner, hide in the crowd, but no matter where he went he could sense Loki's or Stark's eyes on him all the time. Or both. They tended to band together, standing so close their arms touched, intense gazes locked on Steve across the room. Measuring and judging and harsh and making him feel like he was shrinking even more. Hoping he could just turn tiny enough to slip through a crack in the floor and disappear.

When he moved into another room, they inevitably followed. Any attempt to shake them was foiled.

At first when he saw them finally split up, he thought he might be safe at last. He even let out a tiny sigh of relief. He was celebrating too soon, though, because they hadn't split up to go their separate ways for the night. No. Now, they were advancing on him for real. One from the left, one from the right, effectively herding him into a corner.

Loki was coming from his right, prowling like a huge jungle cat, aiming for the jugular.

Stark was moving in from Steve's left, determination made even sharper by the tailored lines of his extravagantly expensive suit.

Oh god. Jesus, Mary and Josef. Allah. Buddah. Superman? Anyone? Please, save him now! Or this was how he was going to die.

And none of the other people at the party seemed to even _notice_. All huddled in their little groups, red-cheeked from drinking and laughing, talking animatedly, no-one sparing a glance for Steve and his predicament.

He knew he should never have stolen those pens. This was his punishment - to be torn limb from limb by two men who hated his guts, and were powerful enough to get away with beating him to a pulp even in the middle of a room full of witnesses.

Steve should have said a proper goodbye to Bucky and told him he loved him because now he would never see his friend again.

But then he didn't have the time to think about anything anymore, because Loki and Stark were both crowding into his personal space now, wedging him into the corner where he had tried to hide. The smug, nasty smirks on their faces were almost identical, even though they really looked nothing alike. The expressions were the same under the physical differences, the spark of malice in their eyes the same even when one pair was bright green and the other dark brown.

His shoulderblades bumped into the wall on one side, and the thick pane of glass of the floor-to-ceiling window on the other. Steve felt his airways clench up in a panic and forced down a strangled swallow. They might not have to beat him to death - maybe he'd just suffocate when his lungs failed?

In a last-ditch effort to save himself even so, he sucked down a wheezing breath and blurted out ”I'm sorry!”, in a rushed murmur.

Both men blinked and came to a full stop, before glancing at each other and then back at him, eyes suddenly wide and confused under furrowed brows.

”What?” Stark's voice was dark, but a lot gentler than Steve could ever have expected. ”Why are you sorry?”

”About the pens. Sorry. So sorry. I'll return them, I promise. Please don't kill me.” The last part came out almost a whisper.

Loki blinked a few times more, quick flutters, and his jaw dropped a little.

Stark's mouth just stretched out into a wide grin. ”That's adorable”, he chuckled. ”Jesus, Rogers, no, we don't care about any pens. You can make off with every single one in the Tower if you feel like it.”

Now it was Steve's turn to be confused. ”Then why...?” His eyes flitted nervously between them, heart thumping against his ribs. ”Why do you hate me so much?” Oh god, why had he said that? Could he blame that one glass he'd finished off? Probably not, but he would anyway.

” _Hate_ you?” Loki spoke up now, bewildered. Then his pale face split into a smile too, flashing so many teeth. ”Oh, we definitely don't hate you, Steve.”

”Not even a little”, Stark agreed, slowly shaking his head of messy, spikey hair. ”Busy little bee like you?”

”Don't forget cute”, Loki murmured, bumping an elbow against the side of Stark's bicep.

”And cute”, Stark obediently added, giving a sage nod. ”Very cute. Prettiest guy in the office.”

”What?”, Steve sqeaked. Damnit...

”So pretty”, Loki purred, leaning slightly closer. ”And we have been discussing the best way to tell you how much we appreciate having you around.”

”Then we decided that the Christmas party might be the best chance to do it”, Tony continued, as if this was a speech they had prepared between them. Maybe they had. ”We figured you might be more relaxed. Which, yeah, we obviously miscalculated on that one.” He gave a wry little smirk, but didn't really seem angry or annoyed.

”But mostly, we thought we might catch you under one of _those_ ”, Loki filled in, glancing up with an upward jerk of his chin.

And Steve almost automatically tilted his head back, looked toward the ceiling, and spotted a few sprigs of mistletoe hanging by a red ribbon right above him. ”Oh”, he managed, while his world view tilted dramatically, tipped over, and came crashing down to shape a whole new landscape. Swallowing, he lowered his jaw and took another look at the men towering in front of him. Their faces were still as intense, their eyes as sharp, but now he realized that he had interpreted their expressions completely wrong before.

Those weren't measuring looks, judging and finding him lacking. They were _hungry_ looks, brimming with intent.

Odd that it had taken him this long to figure it out, considering how he had sometimes felt sure they wanted to eat him...

”Oh”, he repeated, unable to find something to actually _say_. Because now he also knew why they had herded him into this particular corner. Then he cleared his throat and made an effort. ”So, you're not angry? With me?”

They both shook their heads, instantly and emphatically.

”Oh, that't... good.” Way more than just good, actually. Steve felt that warm, fuzzy feeling in his gut spread through his whole body, and now it had nothing to do with alcohol. It was all pure relief, draining tension and worry from every fiber of him. He hadn't even realized the full weight of the constant strain until it was all gone, like magic.

”So, how about that kiss then?” Tony winked at him, eyelashes ridiculously long against his cheek.

Steve's brain short-circuited for a moment, before he made it reboot. ”Well, I guess that's... I mean... That would be... Really... I... Sure?”

”Excellent”, Loki said, smiling pleasantly around the word while somehow making it sound like it had fifteen syllables.

Then they both leaned in close, at the same time. But slowly, giving him plenty of time and opportunity to change his mind and bolt - which he didn't do. On his right cheek, Loki's thin, silky lips settled in a soft kiss, on his left Stark's left one fuller, and plush, and tickling of his goatee. Just when they both moved to pull back, Loki's tongue flicked out and brushed the corner of his mouth.

Steve shivered, but it was definitely in pleasure.

”Nice”, Stark breathed. ”Very.” He gave a slow, happy sigh and smiled. ”Now. How about another drink, kitten?”

”Kitten?”, Steve repeated, frowning, not sure if he should be offended or amused.

”You get used to the nicknames”, Loki said, curling a long hand around Steve's narrow shoulder and guiding him out of the corner.

”At least _you_ did, reindeer games”, Stark smirked. Which made Loki growl at him, and then Steve probably looked as confused as he felt, because Stark flashed him a grin. ”I'm trying a holiday theme”, he offered in explanation.

With a huff Loki let his hand travel along Steve's shoulders until he had his arm wrapped around them, and then pulled him snug against his side. Giving him a look. ”Don't mind him, he's an ass. You just stick with me, and I'll take care of you.” Then it was his turn to smirk. ”Kitten.”

Stark laughed all the way over to the punch bowl.

* * *

Text message 2.17 AM  
From: Steve Rogers  
To: Bucky Barnes

not dead. xmas parties are the best.  
in other news loki and tony actually don't hate me.

\- - -

Text message 10.54 AM  
From: Bucky Barnes  
To: Steve Rogers

told ya, punk


End file.
